Joseph j



Reissued Apr. .9, 1929.

UNITED "STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOSEPH J. SCHAEFER, JR., O1" NIAGARA FALLS, NEW YORK, ASSIGNQR TO NIAC'ECHEMICALS CORPORATION, CORPORATION OF NEW YORK. p

to TEXTILE LUBRICANT AND PROCESS.

No Drawing. Original No. 1,677,852, dated July 17, 1928, Serial No.244,774, filed January 5, 1928.

' Application for reissuefiled February 6, 1929. Serial 110.: 338,023.

This invention relates to a textile lubricant and to a process of usingsuch a lubricant in the manufacture of the'textiles.

In the manufacture of textile fabrics, and more particularly in themanufacture of woolcns and worsteds, it is customary to apply-alubricant to the raw material to preserve the fibers or threads of thematerial by. facilitating thcseparation and straightening of the same.In the working of virgin wool. it is necessary to lubricate the materialbut once, prior to carding, but when using reworked wool, which is knownas shoddy, the material must be twice lubricated if it is to be dyed.Shoddy usually consists in part at least of woolen rags but it maycontain some vegetable fibers and is subjected to what is known as thepicking operation to separate the fibers or threads of the rags. Withthe ordinary lubricant, which may be red oil, the shoddy is firstlubricated to preserve the fiber, then picked and then cleansed toremove the-lubricant, the dyeing taking place between the picking andcarding operations. After dyeing the material is dried, againlubricated, carded, manufactured into fabric and again cleansed. Thecharacter of the lubricant generally used is such that it difiicult toremove it from the material and it is necessary to employ largequantities of soap and other detergents'which are injurious to thewoolen fibers, particular ly if used in large quantities, and most oilsalso have a more or less injurious effect upon the apparatus used inhandling the material.- Further, the material containing the lubricant,when piled or baled in quantities, is

subject to spontaneous combustion.

One objectof the inventionis to provide a textile lubricant which can bequickly and easily removed from the material; which will have no harmfuleifect upon the material it- .self or upon the apparatus used inhandling the same; and which will not be subject to spontaneouscombustion.

A further objectof the invention is to provide a textile lubricant ofsuch a character that the material containing the same need not bewashed prior to the dyeing operation but the lubricant itself may be sotreated as to provide the chemicals usually used with the dye stuff inthe dyeing operation.

A further object of theinvention is to.p rovlde a process of using myimproved lubi'i cant n the manufacture of textiles.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the invention is describedin detail.

To secure the desired results I employ a lubrlcant containing an alkalimetal lactate, such as sodium lactate, potassium lactate or the like,which is applied to the material to be lubricated in the form of asolution. I prefer to use sodium lactate because it is relativelyinexpensive and is one of the most stable of the alkali metal lactates,not being subject to decomposition. Any suitable solut1on may beemployed but very satisfactory results are secured by the use of sodiumlactate and water in substantially equal quantitles.v Some textiles,such as virgin wool, require lubricating but once, that is, before thecardlng operation. The lubricant is applied to such textile stock 'ormaterial in suitable quantities, usually about fifteen percent of theweight of the material to be lubricated, and

then cleansed to remove the lubricant by washing. The sodium lactatebeing soluble 1n water can be very easily removed from the material andrequires the use of but a small quantity of soap, without otherdetergents which might have an injurious effect upon the finishedmaterial.

Some other textile materials, more particularly shoddy, require apicking operation to separate the fibers or threads thereof prior to thecarding and are dyed between the picking and carding operations. -Withsuch materials the raw material is lubricated prior to the pickingoperation, in the same manner that the virgin wool is lubricated priorto carding. In the dyeing of shoddy it is customary to employ a dyewhich requires the use of a leveling agent, such as sodium sulphate, andof an acid, such as lactic acid as a dyeing assistant. With the ordinarylubricants the picked shoddy is washed to remove the lubricant therefrom"and the leveling agent and assisting acid are added. With my improvedlubricant it is unnecessary to Wash or otherwise cleanse the materialbefore dyeing but-the material is subjected to the. action of an. acidwhich will convert the lubricant into other substances which will serveas the leveling agent and dyeing assistant. When sodium lactate is usedas the lubricant I add" I tities of soap,

tion thereon and its removal the use of alkalies or other substances Wich small quantity of acid preferably sulphuric acid, and this acid willreact upon the sodium lactate to form sodium sulphate and lactic acid.The sulphuric acid may beadded in any suitable manner, as by placing'itin the dye solution in which the material is immersed. In this mannerthe lubricant or sodium lactate is chemically removed from theapparatus, and it is then again lubricated. and carded, after which themanufacturing and cleansing operations proceed as in the case of virginwool. v

It will be apparent, therefore, that by the use of my improved lubricantin the manner above set forth I materially cheapen the manufacturingprocesses by simplifying and cheapening the cleansing operation, and inthe case of shoddy or the like by eliminating one cleansing operation.Further, I expedite and cheapen the manufacture of shoddy both byelimination of the washing prior todyemg and by the conversion of thelubricant into the necessary leveling agent and dyeing assistant.Furthelyl practically eliminate all liability of injuring thetextilematerial during the manufacturing process, because the sodiumlactate itself has no injurious acdoes not re uire are injurious to thefibers. Due to the fact that it is not necessary to employ largequanalkalies or other detergents in the removal of the lubricant thefinished product is much more satisfactory than if is when sub'ected tothe ordinary washing operations, ecause it is softer and has a betterluster. My improved lubricant has no injurious effect upon theapparatus, such as leather conveyors and the like, used in the handlingof the material and material containing the same is not subject tospontaneous combustion.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim as new and desiredto secure by Letters Patent, is:

1. A textile lubricant metal lactate.

2. A textile lubricant comprising an ous solution of an alkali metallactate.

containing an alkali aque- 3. A textile lubri ant containing sodiunlactate.

, the fabric to remove the lactate 4. A textile lubricant comprising a,solution of sodium lactate and water.

5. Atextilelubrieant comprising approximately equal parts of an alkalimetal lactate and water.

6. A process of treating textile fibers comprising the application of asolution of alkali metal lactate to a material to be treated, cardingthe material, manufacturing said material into fabric and removing thelactate from the fabric. a

7. A process of treating textiles comprising the application of asolution of an alkali metal lactate to a material to be treated,'carding the material, manufacturing said mate rial into fabric andWashing the fabric in Water to dissolve-the lactate and remove the samefrom the fabric.

8'. A process of treating textiles comprising the application of asolution of an alkali metal lactate to the material to be treated,separating the fibers of said material, applying to the materialcontaining the lactate an acid which will react on the lactate tol'iberate lactic acid, dyeing the material and then drying the dyedmaterial. 9. A process of treatingtextiles comprising the application ofa. solution of sodium lactate to the material to be dyed, separating thefibers of said material, subjecting the material containing the lactateto the action of sulphuric acid to convert the sodium lactate intosodium sulphate and lactic acid, dyeing thematerial. extracting thesurplus water from the dyed material; again applying a solution ofsodium lactate to themates rial. carding the material, manufacturingthecarded material into fabric and then washing therefrom. 10. A processof'treating textiles comprising the application ofa solutin of sodiumlac tate to the material to, be treated, separating the fibers of saidmaterial, immersing the material containing said sodium lactate in a dyesolution containing sulphuric acid, extracting the surplus ,water fromthe dyed material, again applying sodium lactate to the material,carding the material, manufacturing the carded material into fabric andwashing the fabric in water to dissolve the "lactate and remove the sametherefrom.

' 11. A process of treating textiles comprising the steps of applyingthereto a fiberlubricating solution of an alkali metal salt of anorganic acid; manipulating the fibers; applying an acid to decomposesaid -;salt, forming a salt having leveling properties, and an acidhaving dye-assisting properties; dyeing the fibers; and thereafterwashing ou ta the leveling salt and the dye-assisting aci In testimonyJOSEPH J. SCHAEFER, JR.

whereof, I afiix my signature.

